Class Consolidation (Locobase 2556)

This was the engine that gave its name to the wheel arrangement used for more locomotives than any other type. It was originally proposed by the LV's master mechanic Alexander Mitchell for the Mahanoy division and built by Baldwin after some initial reluctance. (see http://course.wilkes.edu/Delano/history/ch6-1, a history of the LV's Delano shops, seen on the web in December 2002, for an account of the jawboning Mitchell applied to persuade Baldwin. His clincher was that the Grant Works in Paterson might be able to handle the work.)

Mitchell's reasoning for adopting a 2-8-0 layout was to ease wear and tear on the track while more effectively distributing weight than an 0-8-0 could manage. Once Baldwin accepted the contract, Mitchell and Baldwin's William P. Henszey worked out the final details. Final cost was $19,000 plus 5% war tax. (In 1878, a Baldwin quote for a Consolidation was $9,700 -- obviously a deflation had hit the market.) The engine (with the satisfying round works number of 1500) was delivered in August 186.

Among Consolidation's design features were the relatively wide anthracite-burning grate with water bars, a variable exhaust, poppet throttle valve, water injector, and a combustion chamber. [Bruce (1952) notes that combustion chambers were seldom used until butt-welding techniques were perfected in the 1920s.]

The engine experienced overnight success by managing loads up 2.5% grades equal to the 0-8-0s (100 empty coal cars totalling 340 trailing tons), but with less chance of derailment or damage to the tracks and at a higher speed. White (1968) says that little is known about Consolidation's service history except that she ran 377,000 miles before her retirement in 1886.

Class M-30 (Locobase 5338)

Data from table in AERJ July 1903. This was a huge Camelback Consolidation. Very few boilers tried to cram more than 500 firetubes in their cross-section, and mustering over 4,000 sq ft of evaporative heating surface was also unusual in a 2-8-0.

The tables in July 1903 and June 1906 are confusing because they show slightly different boilers, but refer to the same original article -- December 1898, p. 395 -- to which Locobase will have to turn to resolve this ambiguity.

Class M-35 (Locobase 7304)

Data from LV 3 -1934 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

102 camelback Consolidations comprised this large class that was originally delivered as Vauclain compounds in 1899 to 1902. Only three years later they were converted to simple expansion and, beginning in 1914, fitted with superheaters and piston valves.

As one might guess of one of the most numerous classes on the LV, retirements covered a long period. The first went in 1916 (possibly an accident victim?) and the last held out until 1951.

Class M-36 (Locobase 7305)

Data from LV 3 -1934 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley from his extensive collection.

Five years after Baldwin delivered its big batch of camelback Consolidations (Locobase 7304), Alco followed with 20 more simple-expansion engines in 1907 with the same-size grate but a bigger boiler. Beginning in 1916, some were fitted with superheaters and piston valves.

Retirements of this class began in 1928 and were completed 17 years later in 1945.

Class M-37 (Locobase 5375)

Data from table in AERJ June 1906. This was a huge Camelback Consolidation, very similar to the M-35s (Locobase 7304), but with lower drivers.

Class Mogul (Locobase 9678)

Data from Emory Edwards, Modern American Locomotive Engines, (Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird & Co, 1883), pp. 120, 122. Baldwin works numbers were 3149-3150 in February 1873.

With the success of the original Consolidation assured (Locobase 2556), the Lehigh Valley bought a few more of the same with slightly larger dimensions. This pair - named Mogul and Tycoon -- had slightly less heating surface area but more tubes. Locobase suspects that the "States" class of 1872 were similar if not identical. Those names were Maryland , Virginia, Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama (works numbers 2679, 2682 in January 1872; 2699, 2701 in February; 2733, 2742 in March; road numbers were 165-170.)

They were rebuilt in 1882. 165-167 were scrapped by 1905. 170 was fitted with Wootten firebox in 1889 and scrapped in April 1912. 168-169 were designated class M-25 and carried on until 168 was broken up in May 1913 and 169 dismantled in September 1915.

Class United States (Locobase 11179)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works, International Exhibition 1876, Exhibit of Locomotives by Burnham Parry Williams & Co (Philadelphia: J P Lippincott & Co, 1876), pp. 8-12. Works number was 3862.

Locobase 2256 describes the very first "Consolidation" and Locobase 9678 shows the confusingly named "Mogul", an 1871-1872 variant; this entry describes the exhibit specimen built for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. 310 had a larger firebox for burning anthracite coal, but was otherwise similar to the Mogul.

Baldwin took care to acknowledge many of its suppliers in a list worth duplicating as a snapshot of the network:

Boiler, ]. L. Bailey & Co.'s "Pine" Iron [Pine Iron Works, Pa];

Fire-Box, Bay State Iron Co.'s Homogeneous Cast Steel [Boston, Mass];

Tires, Standard Steel Works' Crucible Steel [Philadelphia, Pa];

Truck Wheels, A. Whitney & Sons' Double-plate Chilled Wheels [Philadelphia, Pa];

Flues, Morris, Tasker & Co.'s Lap-welded Charcoal Iron Boiler Tubes [Philadelphia, Pa];

Injector, Rue Manufacturing Co.'s "Little Giant" Injector;

Steam-Gauge, H. Belfield & Co. [Philadelphia, Pa];

Brass and Copper Piping, Bridgewater Iron Co .[Bridgewater, Mass];

Jacket Iron, W. D. Wood & Co.'s Patent Planished Sheet Iron ;

Headlight, Kelly Lamp Works [Rochester, NY].

Another little tidbit from Baldwin's recitation of the Consolidation's power that spotlights average freight weights: In describing the 35-car train of loaded coal cars, the builder notes that the tare weight of each car is 3 tons 8 cwt (7,616 lb) and a coal capacity of 6 tons (13,440 lb). Taken together, that's a loaded weight per car of 10 1/2 short tons or 9.4 long tons.

The LV rebuilt the 310 with a Wootten firebox in January 1892 and classified it M-18. It was scrapped in March 1928.